GENDER, 46, 47

46. Elliptical Use of the Feminine Adjective. There is nothing about the feminine gender which should make ellipse more frequent with it than with the masculine or neuter. Only it happens that some of the words which can be most easily supplied are feminine. This elliptical use of the feminine adjective (or of adv. = adj.) is a feature of Greek generally. It is not very common in the LXX. Instances are -

ep' eutheias (hodou) Josh.8:14.

en te eutheia Ps.142:10.

tes plateias Esther 4:1.

ten sumpasan (gen) Job 2:2, 25:2.

heos tes semeron (hemeras) 2 Chr.35:25.

ten aurion 3 Mac.5:38.

eboesen megale (te phone) 4 K. [2 Kings] 18:28.

eis ten hupselen (choran) 2 Chr.1:3.

In the N.T. this idiom occurs much more frequently. Take for instance Lk.12:47, 48 daresetai pollas . . . oligas (plegas).

Cp. also -

ten pros thanaton (hodon) Eus. H.E.2.23.

ouk eis makran Philo Leg. ad C.4.

ep' eutheias Philo Q.O.P.L.1.

epi xenes (choras or ges) Philo Leg. ad C.3.

pedias te kai oreine ibid.7.

te patrio (glosse) Jos. B.J. Prooem.1.

tas perioikous (poleis) ibid.8.

47. Feminine for Neuter. The use of the feminine for the neuter is a pure Hebraism, which occurs principally in the Psalms.

Jdg.15:7 ean poiesete houtos tauten, 21:3 eis ti . . . egenethe haute;

1 K. [1 Sam.] 4:7 ou gegonen toiaute exthes kai trite. Ps.26:3 en taute ego elpizo, 26:4 mian etesamen . . . tauten ekzeteso, 31:6 huper tautes proseuxetai pas hosios, 117:23 para Kuriou egeneto haute, 118:50 haute me parekalesen, 118:56 haute egenethe moi.

In the N.T. this license only occurs in Mk.12:11, Mt.21:42 in a quotation from Ps.117:23.